If you ever want to get a sense of humility and fleeting glory, go to a used bookstore.
On shelf after shelf, you'll find books that once were the fresh products of enormous effort and, in many cases, genuine insight. Some of the blurbs on their covers are amusing. Most of the "must reads" were always "please reads" although a few hold up well over time.
The saddest volumes are the novels. There is a legion of good, interesting, novelists who never wrote a bestseller and who remain largely unknown. A few of the more fortunate ones had brief moments of fame, but their currency eventually collapsed. Others, such as Melville, did not receive the recognition they deserved until long after death.
Think of the dreams and sacrifices behind those tattered volumes and you'll come to one conclusion: Writing is a brutal business.
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